Coach Cindy Bennett seems to be off to another successful season. In her first year as head coach, Coach Bennett coached her team to a 7-11 record last season, which was the most wins in the past three years for the program. This season they are off to a 3-2 winning record and have outshot their opponents 11-4. In the Colby Sawyer Labor Day Tournament, the Panthers defeated New England College 3-0 and had a tough loss to Colby Sawyer 2-1. They went on to two straight victories against Castleton 1-0 and dismantled Green Moun– tain 5-0. Senior goalkeeper Angelina LaBroad (Hampton, N.H.) has already notched three shutouts on the season while Sophomore Laura Davis (Pelham, N.Y.), and Senior Sam Laliberte (Concord, N.H.) lead the scoring column with 2 goals apiece on the season. Coach Bennett has very high hopes for the 2011 season. ” I had very high expectations last year, and I have very high expectations this year, I believe my players have very high expectations as well.” The captains this year are Seniors Amy Green (Atkinson, N.H.), Katie Lozano (Wolwich, Maine) and Sarah Pandiscio (Simbury, Conn.)
In their first conference game of the season, the Panthers lost a very close game to UMass Dartmouth. In the first half, the possession and passing from Plymouth was very smooth, as it almost resembled a FIFA video game due to the crisp combos they were stringing together. Sophomore Laura Davis seemed to be the main playmaker on the day for the Panthers. Kelsey Leandro scored for UMASS with 12 minutes left in the first half to make it a 1-0 game. However, Plymouth answered two minutes later with Sam Laliberte notching in a goal from a beautiful cross from Carol Messler (Durham,N.H.). In the second half, UMass forward Erica Jonasson had a one in a million kind of shot off a volley to score for UMASS. No goalkeeper in the world could have stopped it; it was just one of those perfect shots with pinpoint placement in the top corner. With 33 minutes left in the second half, senior Sammi Jo Saltalamacchia (Sandown, N.H.) almost had a beautiful header goal for the Panthers off a superb cross from Laura Davis. Despite losing 2-1 to UMASS, the Panthers seriously brought the intensity every second and displayed some really good soccer skill.
The team all seemed to be on the same page and showed tremendous heart and hustle, especially sophomore Molly Todd (Epsom, N.H.) Coach Bennett had optimism following the loss saying that ” It wasn’t our best day, but we’ll take this as a lesson and look to get better.” Plymouth seemed to have more scor– ing opportunities throughout the game and controlled the pace. This team seems to create an exciting vibe when they play, and could make some serious noise this season, especially with ten seniors. This team is for real, and if you are looking for an exciting sporting event, go check them out this year.